Please tell us about your future pond project.
Ponds can be jumped in.
It works, but I need more work on it to get it where we can drive over it. Yesterday I parked my truck where I always park it and the right rear tire was sitting on the berm. I will have to get some more concrete washout to our parking places. Or some gravel. I need to extend my septic field lines anyway. The 4th photo shows the quickly installed berm leading runoff to Lake Marie. The fifth photo is a close up of the overflow pipe. I installed it too low. I plan on blocking off the bottom half of the pipe and cutting out the top at an angle. The last and sixth photo shows the yardstick in the shallow end right beside the large cinder blocks. When I took the photos today, there was 3.5 inches in the rain guage. So 3.5 inches and the run off berm raised the level about 22 inches!
We are behind about 6 inches in rain. Please send your left over rain this way.
Also, the pier was decked back in June. I put the posts and joists in back in April. Since then (I didn't realize it until after decking) the post closest in the photos settled down about 3 inches. I guess next dry spell I will raise it and dig under it and add concrete.
Brandi, your pond and the surrounding area are looking very nice. You've got yourself a very relaxing spot that will only get better as time goes along. I think the size of your pond is very manageable. The more the grass fills in around the pond, the clearer it will become. You'll be able to easily see your fish and minnows.
One thing that concerns me is that the pond is doing what I feared when you first posted about water seeping into it and partially filling it. I think your pond is leaking and your water is going into the water table when the pond fills up. The fact that water seeps into the pond means that water can seep out also. If you want to stop that, you'll have to add bentonite clay or a liner. Otherwise, the pond will lose a lot of depth during dry spells. If it stays at a manageable level, it may be okay. But, if you want it to retain more water and stay fuller, I think you'll have to remedy the seepage issue. Either way, it's certainly a nice setting.
It took two months to drop down and only 3.5 inches to get it back almost full. I have thought of using bentonite. My size pond should be small enough to not have too much "sticker" shock on the price of bentonite. I really want to keep it as full as possible. Normally down here we have a wet June and that, along with summer thunderstorms should keep it full. I am still thinking about daming my road ditch and diverting that water into the pond. I would have to convince my water company to not purge the water line on my side, but run a 3 inch or so water hose across the street. Maybe then the water loss with dry spells will be acceptable. 
